Terrapin Turtle, Strabane Canals, 26 June 2022, Short v1
Should we care when we see a terrapin in the local canal or pond?
www.froglife.org/2016/05/16/c...
Pet turtles and terrapins have been regularly abandoned by their owners for decades in various ponds, rivers and canals in the UK.
However, despite a relatively large amount of research into the subject and the cruelty of the act, this trend continues.
Perhaps this is the case? When people buy a tiny terrapin at the pet shop its not much bigger than a fifty pence coin, being
assured buy the sellers that it won’t get much bigger.
Alternatively, maybe it is because once the pet reaches the size of a small dinner plate, it's easier to convince yourself that you are doing
the animal a kindness by releasing it into the wild rather than continuing its care.
Abandoned terrapins in our climate are almost always going to have their welfare compromised, both in terms of health and survival. The estimated annual mortality for feral terrapins and turtles in the UK is thought to be between 40 to 80%.
Terrapins require specific water temperatures, a good depth and flow of oxygenated water in their habitats and basking areas orientated towards the sun, not to mention good accessibility to suitable food. Furthermore, as terrapins are cold blooded, if they are released into an area with
a lot of shade, such as tree lined banks of a canal, or a pond in a wood, they can really struggle.
In cool areas, terrapins may be unable to get their body temperature high enough to move around, let alone eat and digest food. When the temperature drops below 16-18 degrees Celsius, they will not forage
for food at all. This means for the majority of the year in the UK, they will be unable to forage and if there is a cold summer, they will be unlikely to
build up enough fat stores to survive though hibernation.
Even in captivity, terrapins often need to be supplemented with vitamins, as well as enough UV light for them to synthesise vitamin D3, which helps them absorb calcium from their food. Without supplements or enough sunshine or UV light, terrapins both feral and in captivity can suffer from ailments such as shell rot, which results in a weak and spongy shell. Vitamin A deficiency can result in swollen eyelids, which means they eventually fuse together, making them blind. The general cold climate of the UK means that the immune system of these animals,
which are almost all adapted to the tropics or sub-tropics, is often compromised and that they are more prone to disease, such as respiratory problems and hypothermia.
Aside from the obvious ethical implications of abandoning terrapins and turtles, the relatively little research on them that has been done suggests that they may also have negative impacts on the environment. Although terrapins are omnivorous, they primarily eat plants, though will opportunistically take invertebrates and small mammals where they can get them. Where terrapins are released into small ponds, or where a large number of them are present, they can over consume vegetation in the pond.
This may seem trivial, but not only does this mean they exhaust their own food source, but pond plants also play a vital role for our native wildlife.
Newts, including the protected great crested newt, rely on plant leaves to fold over and lay their eggs in. Dragonfly and other invertebrate larvae, in addition to tadpoles, also depend on pond plants to shelter from predators, but also for food as they eat the algae that grows on them.
Water fowl often make nests in and amongst plants along the margins of ponds and these areas are also important foraging and resting places for other wildlife.
As terrapins are thought to be opportunistic feeders, they may also be directly impacting animal populations by eating invertebrates, amphibians and their larvae and possibly even young birds. To make matters worse, if a terrapin is abandoned in an urban park surrounded by roads, it is likely it will have no other ponds to go to, so it will continue to deplete the pond of its wildlife whilst it struggles to find enough to eat.
Unfortunately, at least 4000 terrapins are thought to be feral in the UK and rescues are struggling to keep up. London is the densest area for terrapin abandonment. In addition to this, it can be very difficult to catch and remove terrapins once they have been released.
Abandoning terrapins is not only illegal, but cruel and not only does it cause suffering to the animal, but it often damages local ecosystems.
Non-native species that are present in the UK are estimated to cost the UK economy £1.7 billion per year.
More research needs to be done into the effect of feral terrapins on the environment and awareness needs to be raised to prevent the illegal release of them.
Terrapin Turtle, Strabane Canals, 26 June 2022, Short v1
Should we care when we see a terrapin in the local canal or pond?
www.froglife.org/2016/05/16/c...
Pet turtles and terrapins have been regularly abandoned by their owners for decades in various ponds, rivers and canals in the UK.
However, despite a relatively large amount of research into the subject and the cruelty of the act, this trend continues.
Perhaps this is the case? When people buy a tiny terrapin at the pet shop its not much bigger than a fifty pence coin, being
assured buy the sellers that it won’t get much bigger.
Alternatively, maybe it is because once the pet reaches the size of a small dinner plate, it's easier to convince yourself that you are doing
the animal a kindness by releasing it into the wild rather than continuing its care.
Abandoned terrapins in our climate are almost always going to have their welfare compromised, both in terms of health and survival. The estimated annual mortality for feral terrapins and turtles in the UK is thought to be between 40 to 80%.
Terrapins require specific water temperatures, a good depth and flow of oxygenated water in their habitats and basking areas orientated towards the sun, not to mention good accessibility to suitable food. Furthermore, as terrapins are cold blooded, if they are released into an area with
a lot of shade, such as tree lined banks of a canal, or a pond in a wood, they can really struggle.
In cool areas, terrapins may be unable to get their body temperature high enough to move around, let alone eat and digest food. When the temperature drops below 16-18 degrees Celsius, they will not forage
for food at all. This means for the majority of the year in the UK, they will be unable to forage and if there is a cold summer, they will be unlikely to
build up enough fat stores to survive though hibernation.
Even in captivity, terrapins often need to be supplemented with vitamins, as well as enough UV light for them to synthesise vitamin D3, which helps them absorb calcium from their food. Without supplements or enough sunshine or UV light, terrapins both feral and in captivity can suffer from ailments such as shell rot, which results in a weak and spongy shell. Vitamin A deficiency can result in swollen eyelids, which means they eventually fuse together, making them blind. The general cold climate of the UK means that the immune system of these animals,
which are almost all adapted to the tropics or sub-tropics, is often compromised and that they are more prone to disease, such as respiratory problems and hypothermia.
Aside from the obvious ethical implications of abandoning terrapins and turtles, the relatively little research on them that has been done suggests that they may also have negative impacts on the environment. Although terrapins are omnivorous, they primarily eat plants, though will opportunistically take invertebrates and small mammals where they can get them. Where terrapins are released into small ponds, or where a large number of them are present, they can over consume vegetation in the pond.
This may seem trivial, but not only does this mean they exhaust their own food source, but pond plants also play a vital role for our native wildlife.
Newts, including the protected great crested newt, rely on plant leaves to fold over and lay their eggs in. Dragonfly and other invertebrate larvae, in addition to tadpoles, also depend on pond plants to shelter from predators, but also for food as they eat the algae that grows on them.
Water fowl often make nests in and amongst plants along the margins of ponds and these areas are also important foraging and resting places for other wildlife.
As terrapins are thought to be opportunistic feeders, they may also be directly impacting animal populations by eating invertebrates, amphibians and their larvae and possibly even young birds. To make matters worse, if a terrapin is abandoned in an urban park surrounded by roads, it is likely it will have no other ponds to go to, so it will continue to deplete the pond of its wildlife whilst it struggles to find enough to eat.
Unfortunately, at least 4000 terrapins are thought to be feral in the UK and rescues are struggling to keep up. London is the densest area for terrapin abandonment. In addition to this, it can be very difficult to catch and remove terrapins once they have been released.
Abandoning terrapins is not only illegal, but cruel and not only does it cause suffering to the animal, but it often damages local ecosystems.
Non-native species that are present in the UK are estimated to cost the UK economy £1.7 billion per year.
More research needs to be done into the effect of feral terrapins on the environment and awareness needs to be raised to prevent the illegal release of them.